Just a fraction of a second before Ronan's warhammer slammed down, the shadows at the rear of the throne room split open. A black glaive thrust out violently from the darkness. It didn't aim for Shiki's heart, nor did it aim for Ronan's throat. It aimed directly for the purple gem set in the center of the hammer.
The Power Stone.
Shiki tilted his head, the blade's wind cleanly slicing off half of his cigar. The glowing ember fell onto his shoulder, instantly extinguished by the spray of blood. The manic laughter vanished from his face.
"You dare steal my loot?"
The black glaive scraped against the hammer. The purple energy detonated with a catastrophic boom, peeling the front half of the bridge backward like a tin can. Ronan was blasted back two steps, the veins in his hammer-wielding arm bulging to the point of bursting. Standing on the broken armrest, Shiki slowly raised his eyes.
From the shadows on the far side of the throne room stepped a tall, gaunt, and chilling figure. Corvus Glaive. One of the Black Order, vanguard commander to the Lord of Titan. Wielder of the immortal glaive, wherein his true life was bound. Behind him, an endless swarm of Outriders poured frantically through the breached hull. They scrambled on all fours, fangs bared—mindless beasts of war driven only by the instinct to tear and bite.
Corvus Glaive raised his weapon, his voice terrifyingly calm. "The Stone belongs to the Lord of Titan. Those who stand in the way will die."
Ronan's face contorted into a mask of absolute fury. "Thanos sends a dog to steal my victory?!"
He was Ronan the Accuser, leader of the Kree extremists. He had taken the Power Stone to assault Xandar, intending to turn the entire planet into a graveyard for his vengeance. He had struck a deal with Thanos, but he never had any intention of surrendering this supreme power.
Ronan swung his hammer, aiming a lethal blow at Corvus Glaive. "Go back and tell Thanos! Xandar will be destroyed by my hand!"
Corvus Glaive didn't take a single step back. The black glaive slashed horizontally.
Clang!
The warhammer was violently deflected. The purple energy blasted past the hull, obliterating one of Ronan's own escort frigates outside in a blinding fireball. The next slash was faster. A deep, bloody gash opened across Ronan's chest. He was sent flying, crashing through the ruined consoles at the edge of the bridge.
The warhammer slipped from his grasp. The recess holding the Power Stone jarred loose. With a flash of purple light, the Orb popped out of the handle, rolling toward the edge of the shattered deck.
For a single breath, the throne room fell dead silent. Shiki stared dead at the stone. Ronan stared at the stone. Corvus Glaive stared at the stone.
Then, all three moved at once.
Shiki threw his arms wide. "Jihahaha! I don't care if you dogs tear each other apart. But that treasure is mine!"
Under his power, the entire flagship groaned in agonizing distortion. Severed turrets, the bridge hull, Xandarian ruins, and destroyed Nova fighters—everything detached from its resting place and floated majestically into the air. It was as if an invisible cosmic giant had seized the interior of the ship.
The moment the Outriders charged in, they were instantly flattened into meat paste by descending slabs of metal. One Outrider lunged at Shiki's back, but before its claws could land, the floorboard flipped upward, swatting it into a burst of bloody gore.
Shiki didn't even spare it a glance. "Trash shouldn't try to steal the spotlight!"
Corvus Glaive blurred into a dark streak, charging low across the floor. He was fast. Much faster than Ronan. His glaive expertly navigated the floating debris, thrusting directly into Shiki's abdomen.
Squélch!
The tip of the blade pierced brutally through Shiki's lower back. Shiki looked down. Blood ran down his golden kimono.
Corvus Glaive looked up, his eyes filled with mockery. "A pirate? I have killed many who called themselves kings."
But the corners of Shiki's mouth slowly curled into a smile of absolute, unfiltered madness. "Then you killed the wrong man today."
White Zetsu cells frantically surged around the wound. The hyper-resilient flesh clamped down on the blade with a vice-like grip, refusing to let Corvus pull it out even an inch. The Mangekyo Sharingan spun rapidly in Shiki's eyes. He saw through it. This wasn't an ordinary weapon. Concealed within this black glaive was an extremely troublesome core. Corvus Glaive's body was merely a shell. This blade was his true life.
Shiki reached out, grabbing the spine of the blade. Pitch-black Armament Haki instantly coated his palm. "This garbage sword of yours... it seems to be your real body, isn't it?"
For the first time, Corvus Glaive's expression shifted. He pulled violently, trying to free the weapon. It wouldn't budge.
Shiki stomped down, shattering the deck and collapsing the entire bridge down another level. "Ame-no-Ohabari!"
Terrifying gravity coalesced into a colossal lion's head, roaring out from behind Shiki. It wasn't made of stone or dirt. It was a destructive monster forged by compressing ship wreckage, steel beams, and city debris with sheer gravity. The lion opened its massive jaws and clamped down viciously on Corvus's glaive.
Crack. A crisp sound echoed from the blade.
Corvus Glaive's pupils shrank to pinpricks. "What did you see?!"
Shiki kept the cigar clenched firmly between his teeth, blood seeping freely through his grin. His laughter was even more manic than before. "I see that you're scared!"
Roaring, Corvus drove a brutal knee into Shiki's chest. Shiki didn't bother dodging. He retaliated with a backhand fist coated in iron, smashing squarely into Corvus's face. Corvus's head snapped to the side, half of his face caving in, yet he acted as though he felt no pain, keeping a death grip on his weapon. Layer after layer of the deck shattered beneath their feet.
Outside, the Nova Corps had completely lost track of the situation. Centurion Rhomann Dey sat in his fighter, watching Ronan's flagship get crumpled like a piece of scrap metal. The comms channel was a mess.
"Sir! A third party has breached the flagship interior!"
"They aren't Kree! They're Outriders! Database confirms it—they're Thanos's ground troops!"
Dey's throat tightened. Ronan alone was lethal enough. Now Thanos's people were showing up. Add to that the blonde lunatic currently turning the city into a floating armada. This war had expanded far beyond the Nova Corps' ability to control. He saw Shiki impaled through the abdomen, and he saw the arrogant man seamlessly counterattack and pin down Corvus Glaive.
Dey remained silent for a few seconds before barking an order. "All fighters, pull back from the flagship! Focus entirely on evacuating the city sectors! Leave the monsters inside to kill each other!"
A young pilot couldn't help but ask, "Sir, is that blonde man actually on our side?"
Dey watched as Shiki casually hurled a chunk of Kree warship into pieces. His mouth twitched violently. "He's only on his own side. But right now, he's killing our enemies. That's good enough."
Inside the throne room, Ronan dragged himself out of the debris. His chest wound was bleeding profusely. He saw Corvus and Shiki deadlocked, and he saw the Orb resting near the edge. Only absolute greed and fury remained in Ronan's eyes.
He threw himself desperately toward the stone. "Ultimate power belongs to me!"
Catching him out of the corner of his eye, Shiki's face went completely black. "I told you. Keep your filthy hands off my loot!"
He snapped his leg up, kicking a massive chunk of hull plating toward Ronan. Ronan braced his shoulder against it, skidding several meters sideways, but still reached out stubbornly for the Orb. Corvus Glaive raised a hand toward it as well. Three Outriders lunged from the flank, trying to secure the stone for their master.
Shiki completely lost his temper. "Are you all deaf, you f*cking bastards?!"
He threw both hands outward. "Lion's Threat: Falling Stars!"
Outside the shattered ceiling of the flagship, dozens of massive floating wreckage pieces plummeted simultaneously. The first piece pulverized the Outriders. The second crushed the path in front of Ronan. The third slammed down right behind Corvus Glaive, driving him deep into the bowels of the deck.
The black glaive was violently wrenched from Shiki's abdomen, spraying blood across the floor. Shiki clamped a hand over the wound. White Zetsu cells quickly sealed the hole. He took two heavy breaths, his manic laughter echoing through the bridge once more.
"What a rush! This is way more fun than those useless trashes at Impel Down!"
Corvus Glaive staggered up from beneath the scrap iron. His body was fractured in several places, but his glaive remained intact. Save for the glaring crack running down its length.
Shiki stared at the crack, the greed in his eyes morphing into chilling, murderous intent. "Thanos's dog, right? Today, I'll snap your leash. Then I'll go collect the debt from your master personally!"
Corvus slowly raised his glaive. "You will die before the Lord of Titan."
Shiki threw his head back and laughed. "Then tell him to roll out here and face me!"
Seizing their standoff, Ronan made one last, desperate scramble for the Orb. Shiki and Corvus turned their heads simultaneously. The blinding purple light reflected off three faces, each harboring their own deadly ulterior motives. The Power Stone sat wedged perfectly on the fractured edge of the bridge. One step further, and it would drop into the bottomless abyss of Xandar's sky.
The air seemed to freeze in place.
Then, in the very next second, the cover of a nearby ventilation shaft popped open from the inside. A gray-furred raccoon poked his head out.
Rocket Raccoon. Member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. Bounty hunter. Expert in explosives, firearms, and prison breaks, with a laundry list of petty bounties to his name. He looked at the blood-soaked Shiki. He looked at the mangled, furious Ronan. He looked at the murderous Corvus Glaive.
Rocket fell into a prolonged silence. Then, he turned his head and whispered to the tree standing behind him.
"Groot. I think we're in the wrong place."
----
Support this fanfict by leaving Positive Review, Comments, and Power Stones.
For Advance Chapters:
> Patreon.com/NegativeTranslations